CAS: Sustainable Carboxylation with Carbon Dioxide at Tailored Heterogeneous Electrocatalysts

美国的化学制造业是经济效益的来源，尽管它也可能是环境污染的一个因素。该项目的目标是开发新的化学制造方法，以优化效益并最大限度地减少问题。化学系的化学催化项目资助麻省理工学院的Karthish Manthiram教授开发利用二氧化碳、简单含碳分子、水和电制造聚合物（塑料）的方法。新工艺可能为“负碳塑料”提供一条高度可持续的途径。这个项目的关键是使用金属催化剂，可以将二氧化碳添加到由氢和碳组成的分子中。在进行实验室研究的同时，正在制定一项针对中学女生的新推广计划。该课程教授化学原理，围绕化学制造中的可再生能源。这些努力促进了妇女和代表性不足的少数民族参与研究和STEM研究领域。电化学羧基化可以从二氧化碳和可再生电力中可持续合成各种有价值的羧酸，并具有净负温室气体排放。丙烯酸是一种大容量的商品化学品，其可持续合成备受关注。在化学系化学催化项目的支持下，Karthish Manthiram教授正在领导一个项目，开发电化学羧基化，作为一种新的合成途径的关键驱动因素，以二氧化碳和乙烯为原料可持续地生产丙烯酸。为了激活乙烯进行羧基化，必须使其卤化，这可以在环境或近环境条件下进行。这个反应产生了各种卤化中间体。本项目主要研究如何通过开发银基催化剂，电催化这些卤化乙烯衍生物羧化。麻省理工学院（MIT）的曼西拉姆实验室（Manthiram Lab）正在开发一项拓展计划，旨在传达如何利用化学知识来理解全球变暖和解决化学合成中的问题。该项目以中学女生为目标，帮助提高女性和未被充分代表的少数族裔在科学领域的代表性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Chemical manufacturing in the United States is source of economic benefits, though it can also be a contributor to environmental pollution. The project is conceived with the goal of developing new methods of chemical manufacturing that optimize the benefits and minimize the problems. The Chemical Catalysis program in the Division of Chemistry is funding work by Professor Karthish Manthiram at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop methods of making polymers (plastics) using carbon dioxide, simple carbon-containing molecules, water, and electricity. The new process may provide a highly sustainable route to “carbon-negative plastics.” Key to this this project is the use of metal catalysts that can add carbon dioxide to molecules made of hydrogen and carbon. In parallel with the laboratory research, a new outreach program targeted at middle school girls is being developed. This program teaches chemical principles surrounding renewable energy for chemical manufacturing. These efforts promote the involvement of women and underrepresented minorities in research and STEM fields of study.Electrochemical carboxylation can enable the sustainable synthesis of a wide variety of valuable carboxylic acids from carbon dioxide and renewable electricity with net-negative greenhouse gas emissions. Acrylic acid is a large-volume commodity chemical whose sustainable synthesis is highly sought. With the support of the Chemical Catalysis Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Karthish Manthiram is leading a project to develop electrochemical carboxylation as a key driver for a novel synthetic route to sustainably produce acrylic acid from carbon dioxide and ethylene. To activate ethylene for carboxylation, it is necessary to halogenate it, which can be done at ambient or near-ambient conditions. This reaction leads to a variety of halogenated-intermediates. This project is focused on studying how to electrocatalytically carboxylate these halogenated ethylene derivatives by developing silver-based catalysts. The Manthiram Lab at MIT is developing an outreach program that conveys how knowledge of chemistry can be used to understand global warming and solve problems in chemical synthesis. The program is targeted at middle school girls, helping to improve representation of women and underrepresented minorities in science.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.